The More Productive You Are, The Dumber You Become

ATTENTION: In the production of this video, artificial intelligence tools has only been used for the voice synthesis and grammar correction. All else has been written by a human.

People confuse productivity with intelligence. The self-improvement industry thrives on this cycle, selling blueprints and hacks that keep people busy without ever addressing the root of their fears.

This obsession comes from a very Western way of seeing time: scarce, running out, something that must always be maximized. François Jullien explains in "A Treatise on Efficacy", this linear view creates urgency and pressure that distort our decisions.
Anxiety becomes the default state.
In contrast, classical Chinese thought offers another perspective. Sun-tzu in The Art of War emphasizes shaping conditions until the right moment arises. Lao Tzu warns in the Tao Te Ching that when something is stretched to its limit, the opposite sets in.
Time is not a straight line to be filled, but a cycle of maturation where opportunities ripen and return.

Real intelligence is not about filling every second with tasks but about developing awareness of complexity and ambiguity.

00:00 Introduction
00:58 Anxiety as the Root of Productivity
03:05 Temporal Scarcity Mindset
03:44 Classical Chinese Perception
05:31 Optimization
06:14 There is no Endpoint
06:38 Mental Rigidity Among Young People
07:55 The Greatest Barrier to Strategy
08:39 Personal Example; Chess
09:35 Patterns of Simplification
10:20 The Alternative
11:42 Are You Satisfied?


Song: Sci-fi by Bencloud (distorted)
Script: https://pastebin.com/uVQj08Zf